An Eternity of Dead Sun (An Eternity of Eclipse Novel Book 2) (43 page)

“I want to see yours,” I said instead.

He grinned beside me, nodding expectantly. He didn’t look pleased that I had subtly rejected another one of his offers, but he didn’t let it affect the adoration he was spoiling me with.

“Maybe someday when I regain my full powers, I’ll show them to you.” He then exhaled languidly, looking around at the night, no doubt enjoying the view. “Thank you for a wonderful birthday, Teacup. When it’s your turn, I will give you the world.”

“No problem,” I beamed naïvely, thrilled that he was finally acknowledging my efforts with a “thank you.” “I’m glad you liked—Ahhh!”

Eclipse abruptly untangled himself from me. With his palms lying flat on my back, he pushed me over the edge of the cliff, only catching me right before I fell. While the heels of my feet were barely holding me up on the edge of the cliff, he turned me over in his arms so that I’d have a direct view of him holding me—literally between life and death.

He favored me with a wicked smile, yanked me back to him, and pulled me to the ground. While showcasing ease in his movements, his beautiful body came over me.

“Now if you don’t mind,” he incited huskily, staring down at me like I was the most stunning thing in creation. He looked unbelievably seductive. “I’d like to give myself the present I was supposed to get last night.”

“Wh – what?” I asked stupidly, trying to avoid staring at his lips.

“Give me my first kiss, Teacup.” He laughed, stroking my face with care. “Give me the first milestone of my life.”

I froze. “Your first kiss?”

He sighed longingly, lazily tracing his thumb over my lips. The sheer sexuality of this simple movement made my toes curl.

“I have been
very
careful with you, Gracie. I’ve wanted to kiss those gorgeous lips of yours since I first met you. Because I feared for your life, I held back. Every time you speak, I want to throw myself at you and kiss you like you should be kissed.” He grinned mischievously, the finger tracing over my collarbone. “I’ve waited a very long time for you, and I even gave you my forbidden fruit.” He chuckled, his eyes twinkling before he added, “I even woke up early for you.”

“Early?” I echoed dumbly. “But you’ve been asleep for nearly a week.”

“And it would’ve taken another week for me to fully consolidate my powers.”

Curiosity swelled inside me. “Why are you up so soon then?”

“Why do you think?” He leaned down, giving me a closer view of that flawless face. “You really don’t know the possible reason as to why I woke up so early?”

My heart galloped frantically as I considered what he was insinuating. My eyes enlarged when the reason came to me. I looked at him, worry lacing my voice. “You – you didn’t hear anything when you were asleep, did you?”

My one-sided conversation with Eclipse—where I was berating him for lying to me—was by far the most vulnerable and human conversation I had ever had with anyone. It unnerved me that he could have been privy to it. I mean, he was asleep! He couldn’t have heard it . . . right?

“Everything,” he finally admitted, his soft lips leaning down to briefly trace my jawline with care. “Every. Single. Thing.” He levered himself up and continued to speak, his lyrical voice rolling over me like soothing waves. “I felt it when you hit me with that pillow. I heard your shaking voice when you screamed at me, and I sensed your disappointment when you sat down on that couch, staring at me like I was the most awful thing in the world.” There was a tinge of regret that lurked in his eyes. “I heard everything and I wanted desperately to come out of my hibernation. So I fought tooth and nail to wake up early, so I could come back to you.” His amused eyes noted the precarious position we were in, both figuratively and literally speaking.  “And so here we are . . . on the brink of our relationship again.”

I stared up at him, unable to modulate all the thoughts and emotions that had run amuck within me.

“I – I – you . . .” I couldn’t even formulate a logical sentence. “That persimmon,” I prompted hazily. “You were supposed to eat that yourself, weren’t you? You were supposed to eat that in order to regain your power. You were supposed to eat that so you wouldn’t have to even bother going into recuperation mode . . .”

Eclipse didn’t say anything, but I knew his silence meant agreement.

“Why did you give it to me instead?”

He measured me for a thoughtful second. “I . . . am not as unfeeling as you may think I am,” was all he said.

I still couldn’t fathom his motives. “Why did you decide to give it to me in the first place?”

“To ensure that you have nothing to fear when it comes to me. You may not have been able to handle me before, but you can handle everything I want to offer you now.” A chuckle streamed from his lips. His mesmerizing eyes compelled me to hold his gaze. “You can look at it as an unspoken promise. You weren’t aware that you were actually biting into the forbidden fruit, but for your next forbidden fruit, you will know exactly what you’re getting yourself into.”

I swallowed convulsively because I knew that my next temptation—my next forbidden fruit—was him. The persimmon was merely a warm-up, an elixir used to ensure that I would be able to handle Eclipse without dying from being with him. The true forbidden fruit had always been Eclipse himself.

My face turned scarlet red because lying there like that, staring up at his face, I already felt the temptation slither over me. It was begging me to take a plunge at death so I could have a taste of life. It was ironic that our position over the edge of the cliff mirrored my internal struggle. Should I take the leap of faith or hold on for dear life?

Having no answer to that, I numbly searched his face, inwardly considering his words before another pressing thought came into the forefront of my mind.

“You’ve really never kissed anyone before?”

Eclipse chuckled again, shaking his head. He lifted his fingers and gingerly stroked my hair. “I’ve been very careful with what I do. I pick and choose my milestones, and I only want to remember the best.” He gazed down at me intently, those gorgeous eyes seemingly piercing into mine. “You don’t want that honor, Teacup? To give the Demon of Lust his first kiss? You don’t want to be my first milestone? Out of all the blurs in my eternity, don’t you want to be the one who stands out?”

I did.

Oh God, I did.

I didn’t want to live forever, but I wanted to live forever through him. Forever didn’t wait for a lifetime, but if I made an impact on him, then eternity would always remember
my
lifetime. If I disappeared from this world, then I would not be a blur. I would be unforgettable.

I felt so greedy.

I fought to regulate my breathing as I ran my hand over his sculpted back and dug my nails into his skin, marking my existence physically and psychologically.

“Put me out of my misery,” he urged, desire aching in his hoarse voice. The expression on his face was rife with desperation. For such a dominant creature, I knew it was killing him to shift the power over to me. “Stop teasing me and give me our first kiss, Gracie.”

A flare of excitement flowed through me. Having Eclipse blatantly yearn for me made me feel as if I had the world kneeling at my feet. I no longer felt like an insignificant human. I felt powerful, beautiful, and epic—like an eternal milestone. How could I say no to him when my entire body was surging to life for him?

As if my own thoughts were becoming obscured by an eclipse, I was beyond reasoning. My future husband shouldn’t have taken so long to get to me because now I was distracted with the Demon of Lust, and what a distraction this beautiful creature was. I nodded slowly, unable to ignore his tormented plea because my own needs were being tormented as well.

I wanted him just as badly.

I hesitantly lifted my head and grazed his upper lip with both of my lips, barely feathering them over his and barely kissing him. A tempted growl emitted from the depths of his chest, and I smiled. It made me feel happy and proud that I had this effect on my Demon of Lust. With my previous exes, I behaved like a shaky virgin, barely unleashing the dark depths of my own carnal desire. But with Eclipse, there was something about him that encouraged me to utilize my power as a woman. Prince Charming may encourage my innocence, but this alluring Demon demanded my promiscuity.

In that heated second, I didn’t want to be good.   

Unable to help myself, I continued to tease him by giving his lower lip the same treatment.

I bit it, a bit harder this time and I could taste his blood. I continued to play with him, barely brushing my lips against his because I knew he was waiting for my first move. Once I kissed him, then he was free to take me as he wanted. He was free to dominate me, worship me, and have his way with me. For the time being, I was solely in control and I didn’t want to give it up. I wanted him to be at my mercy, just like I was going to be under his when he dominated me.

I poked my tongue out, tasting the heat that surrounded his lower lip. His muscles tightened above me. Each tendon rippled like waves beneath my nails, telling me how much restraint he was holding in. It wasn’t until I heard his guttural voice that I deigned to stop.

“Please, Gracie,” he uttered.

I was amazed because I had never heard him plead like this.

I finally nodded, tilting my head up, closing my eyes, and puckering my lips for a taste of lust in its rawest form. With a sigh of need, Eclipse lowered himself, and I felt the increments of time come to a stop. Our lips grazed, lighting the inferno that was ready to burst between us. And just when we were about to finally get our official first kiss . . . reality came pounding in.

“Hiiii!”

“Ahhhhh!” I screamed, leaping up as I scrambled to make sense of the sudden interruption.

Unfortunately for Eclipse, I rose up too fast when I got spooked.

Clunk!

“Oww! Oww!”

“Bloody fucking hell!” Eclipse howled, springing off of me once my forehead collided with his.

Stars exploded in my eyes, and I was sure it was the same for Eclipse. Rubbing our heads in pain, we turned to the ones who interrupted us: Phix and Coco.

“I have good news!” Phix announced while Coco was smiling uncontrollably next to him. Both were dressed in jeans and white t-shirts.

Eclipse glowered at them disbelievingly. From the rising and falling of his chest, I surmised that it took all his willpower not to throw those baby Demons off the cliff for ruining the romantic mood we were in.

“You’ve figured out a way for me to put the moves on my woman without brainless idiots interrupting us when I was about to finally get some action?”

My jaw dropped at his hostile and rude comment.

Phix’s demeanor turned fearful. His frantic eyes darted from me to Eclipse. Realization dawned over his face once he processed what he had interrupted.

“Errr . . .”

Coco’s mouth formed an “O.” She eyed me with a sneaky smile. “Were you going to give a little something, something to his Dark Majesty before we interrupted, Gracie?”

“No!” I lied, my eyes wide as I awakened from Eclipse’s seductive spell. Rationale returned to me. I was secretly horrified that I had become so weakened under his seduction. “No, of course not!”

Eclipse snapped his head back with the ferocity of a cobra. He proceeded to glare at me like I had said the most offensive words he had ever heard.

“It’s my
birthday
,” he said to me, as if it was his birthright to get whatever he wanted from me on his special day.

“I took you hiking, rented a cottage, and had a party for you,” I retorted, astounded that he could think to demand any more out of me than that.

“Party?” he critiqued harshly. The sexual frustration that radiated from him transformed into rage. “Forcing my inner fat kid to hike up a mountain is considered a party?”

My features twisted into a frown. I couldn’t believe I was about to give my first kiss to this guy.

“The moment is over,” I said flatly, my voice pounding with conviction. “I got caught up because we’re in the middle of nowhere and it feels romantic, but I’m sane again. I’m not going to give in to you anymore.” I looked at Coco and Phix, my eyes welling with appreciation. “Thank you for interrupting us. I almost lost control to this seductive Demon and betrayed my future husband!”

Eclipse’s frown darkened. He wheeled around to face them, the rage he had for me being transferred onto them.

“Since I’m not getting anything tonight, give me good news before I bring my hellhounds up here and throw a party of my own.”

“We found something,” Phix announced at record speed, knowing that he was going to be the main attraction of this hellhound party if he didn’t hurry his ass up. “When we dug more into Gracie’s past, we found out something.”

Interest piqued in our eyes.

“What did you find?” Eclipse and I asked at the same time.

“Gracie had a nanny,” Coco answered, and I swore I could hear tires screeching in my mind. I hadn’t expected to hear that.

Eclipse looked at me curiously. “You had a nanny?”

“I – I don’t remember,” I replied honestly.